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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Gigolos,
strippers and bunny-burners. Netflix, worth the price for House of
Cards alone, has some hidden gems this month that makes its $8 a month
price totally ten-buck-worthy.

Snowpiercer(Available November 22)

This
visual stunner is one of the most critically acclaimed movies from this summer, it currently has a 95%
score on Rotten Tomatoes’ site and it has a shot at nominations for this year’s
Oscars. With stars Chris Evans (Captain
America) and a memorable turn by Tilda Swinton, it’s certainly worth the
ride.

Fatal
Attraction (Available November 1)

If you’ve recently gone crazy over Gone Girl, scare up another good time with this original potboiler
thriller from 1987.

Nebraska(Available November 8)

This
black and white film from January has some of the most colorful movie
characters of the year. Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants)
takes the audience to small town Missouri and Nebraska for a big treat.

Chelsea Peretti: One of
the Greats(Available November 14)

Comedian
Chelsea Peretti’s (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
stand-up special will arrive just in time for some mid-November laughs.

Fading Gigolo(Available November 5)

John
Turturro’s comedy from last May has many of the charms of a Woody Allen film: a
great jazz soundtrack, the enchantment of New York and a relaxed, funny
neurotic performance by Allen. If the women had been given smarter roles, this
would have been a modern Moonstruck,
but it still works as an amusing rental.

The ten buck review:Worth
ten bucks.

Bonus

La Bare(Available November 14)

Ladies, if John Turturro doesn’t fit your idea of a gigolo, try Joe Manganiello's well-reviewed documentary. I
skipped this one in the theater, but this doc about the backstage lives of Dallas bimbos will be extra fun for Dallasites looking for people they know.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

There’s a scene in
St. Vincent where Bill Murray’s
character Vincent (Vin) parks his car into his driveway by driving it
backwards. I’ve always wondered what the advantage is for those people who hold
up traffic for this rather difficult way to park, but this scene tells you
everything about the main character. He has a really difficult way to do everything.

Vin is a
curmudgeonly alcoholic gambling slob whose life is going backwards for all
kinds of reasons. Enter neighbor and single mom Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) and
her son that discovers that the sarcastic Vin has a heart of gold. This is not
exactly an original screenplay; I think it plays every week on TV’s About A Boy, but Murray and McCarthy’s
on-screen charm are crowd-pleasers for sure.

Simply put: Predictable but amusing. A good film
choice if you’d like to put a happy note on the end of a crappy day.

Award potential: Murray
has some chances to tug at your heart as a true actor. Golden Globe’s comedy
category should notice. Oscar won’t.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Fincher elevates an
airport bestseller to the year’s creepiest thriller.

Master director David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, The Social Network) tackles Gillian Flynn’s popular
page-turner and you get what you’d expect — a masterfully produced film that is
thrilling and entertaining but not too important or thought provoking.

The film explores the media’s obsession with good families
gone bad (yawn) and asks the question, “do we really know our loved ones?” (interesting).
More effectively, it explores a simpler question: “Did Nick Dunne kill his
wife?” (now you got me).

The cast is great. Mr. Affleck shows an emotionally exposed
side we rarely see…and yes, his penis. Rosumund Pike (An Education, Pride and Prejudice) has her breakout role. And Emily
Ratajkowski (Blurred Lines video) shows
us that she should just dance.

The book and the movie both suffer from an ending that’s
hardly satisfying, but getting there is the thrill of Gone Girl; I enjoyed both.

Simply put:You’ll be on the edge of your
seat for two and a half hours. You’ll discuss it for the next hour. You’ll
forget it by next week.

Award potential: It will be discussed in the fall as an Oscar contender, but ultimately it’s just a well-crafted thriller
and will be mostly forgotten by Academy Award time.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Netflix, worth the
price for House of Cards alone, has
some hidden gems this month that makes its $8 a month price totally
ten-buck-worthy.

The Trip (2010)

If you saw the
trailer for The Trip To Italy, in
theaters now, you may not have realized it’s a sequel. The Trip features Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on a
tour country's finest restaurants and it’s the perfect appetizer to the new
film.

Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work (2010)

Can we still talk about Joan Rivers? Absolutely. This top
shelf documentary follows the life and career of Joan Rivers, made when the
comedienne was 75 years old. You’ll laugh for sure, but you’ll also get an
honest glimpse into the real life of a comedian and be surprisingly impressed
by the hardworking Rivers. It was worth ten bucks in the theater.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

This year proves
you can’t see too much of J-Law. This flick is the perfectly refresher before
going to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
Part 1 in theaters on November 21 (Catching
Fire available on Netflix on October 22)

Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’ (2013)

If you went to see Jimi: All Is By My Side in theaters this
week, you were probably disappointed that the filmmakers were unable to secure
rights to any of his original songs. Get your fix with this rockin’ documentary
that uses previously unseen performance footage, and his songs, to provide
insight into the life of this legend.